


Something Eternal

by aliceylain



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 05:43:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliceylain/pseuds/aliceylain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Amy accidentally drop-in on Himemiya Anthy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Eternal

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I’ve got a sequel planned. Just what I am getting myself into?

The _vworp vworp vworp_ sound from behind Anthy startled her, not so much because of the sound itself but because it was something unexpected. It had been decades since the last time she had been surprised by something new, especially in her greenhouse. While it was true that her brother had a hand in almost everything that happened on the Ohtori campus, he tended to leave the greenhouse mostly alone except for occasional visits.

She turned around, watering can clutched in one hand and the other hand ready to do anything if this something new turned out to be something undesirable. A quick translocation spell would be easy enough to do, dropping whatever-it-was somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Anthy waited tensely as a blue police box phased in and out of substance before solidifying with a final last _vwooooorp_.

"Pond, welcome to Japan on Earth circa 1997 or thereabouts-ish. Not a particularly notable year for this country but I know there's an absolutely wonderful tea shop that only was open for about two years during the Lost Decade-" The man's voice preceded him as he burst out of the police box confidently and then stopped in confusion. "Or maybe not. Maybe I meant a florist shop instead of tea shop."

A red-haired woman followed him and rolled her eyes. "Doctor, you’ve really got to get better at landing where you actually want to land."

"No, I don't. How boring would that be, always ending up where you intended to go," the man retorted. "And I'd like to see you navigate the time vortex, dodgy little bugger that it is." He looked around and his eyes lit up when he spotted Anthy. "Well, hello! I don't suppose you could tell me where and when we are?"

Anthy took in the solid police box, the man in the bowtie, the woman with the long-suffering expression on her face, and lowered her hand. "You're in Japan in 1997. I'm very sorry but this isn't a tea shop, it's a school."

"Hah! See, Pond, I got both of them right!"

"Right? I don't think you can count landing in the right country instead of the actual location as a win."

"Excuse me," Anthy said politely, "but unexpected visitors aren't really allowed on the Ohtori campus, even ones that travel through time. If you want to tour the school, you need to make an appointment in advance. I need to ask you to please leave the way you came, as soon as possible."

"Now, who said that I travel through time? I could just be very confused and wandering around in the care of..." The man walked forward and his eyes widened. "Oh. Oh oh oh oh _oh._ "

"What?" the woman demanded, looking defensive. "What is it? What’s wrong?"

Anthy stood her ground as the man rapidly advanced on her until he was only a foot away. She lifted her hand again, in case her first impression of harmlessness had been wrong.

"Blimey," the man said, staring at her. "You're an Archetype."

"Excuse me," the woman said, "What did you say?"

"An Archetype, she's an Archetype," he answered, alternatively leaning backwards and forwards to squint at Anthy. "They're very rare and I never expected to meet another one in my lifetime. They're almost mythical you could say, really. What's your name?" he asked her, grabbing her hovering hand.

"Anthy. Himemiya Anthy," she said, at a loss of what to think.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Anthy," he said, shaking her hand. "I’m the Doctor and this is my friend, Amelia Pond. I’m very sorry for dropping...in here...so unexpectedly...” He let go of her hand and pushed past her, to stare around at the roses and greenhouse.

"And I'm sorry," Amelia Pond said, coming a bit closer. "He gets distracted very easily. Doctor, what do you mean that she's an Archetype? That's a literary term, right?"

"Yes, literary, but you know that words can have more than one meaning." He whirled around, touching a rose here and there, his eyes searching. "You know how there can be fixed points in time? Well, every once in a great while there can be fixed points of ideas. She's a fixed point, Amy.” He suddenly walked right back up to Anthy. "I'm sorry, I’m usually not so forward but I have to know which you are and these are really in the way." And then he slipped off her glasses.

Anthy started to protest at his utter rudeness but when her witch's sight was no longer suppressed by her glasses, all she could do was stare at the man that had literal rivulets of time winding around him. He was old, centuries old despite his appearance, as was the police box behind him. And his form...his form constantly changed from a much older looking man, to a man with a long scarf, to a younger man in a leather jacket, and many more. He wasn't just one person, he was at least ten and time energy lit him up all the while.

"My heavens," he said distractedly, staring deeply into her eyes as she stared into his. "She's not just an Archetype, she’s three Archetypes. I didn't even know that was possible." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a metal wand, which he waved at her. "As three Archetypes, it's very possible that she could be around forever. Absolutely amazing."

"Are you saying she's not really alive then?"

Anthy frowned at Amelia as the Doctor waved his metal wand at her some more. "I'm alive. However, if you're asking me to prove it, I'm going to have to decline."

"Amy, Amy, Amy, what did I tell you after Galaxia Fortune? Never insinuate that someone isn't alive, it's just plain rude," the Doctor tutted. "Anthy, of course you don’t have to prove anything. Now, let's get you into the TARDIS so I can run a few more diagnostics on you."

Frowning even deeper, Anthy backed away. "I'm not the kind of person to just blindly follow a stranger."

"Oh dear," the Doctor said. "I guess I was being rude too. I assure you that we mean absolutely no harm-"

"That would depend on what your definition of harm is. I can't say that I care for the type of stranger that you are."

"Well, if you're going to say that I'm the type of stranger who wears really cool bow ties, then you’re perfectly spot-"

"You're clever."

The Doctor grinned. "Why, thank you, it's always nice to have someone realize that right away."

"You're clever," Anthy repeated. "What's worse, you _know_ you're clever and you know exactly what to say to make people trust you. But you lie all the time. And because you don't want to do anything alone, you seduce impressionable girls to your side."

"Seduce! Now, listen here, you little-" Amy burst out while the Doctor said, "I don't know exactly where you got any of-"

"My eyes can see past this costume you've put on. I've had more time that you can even imagine dealing with someone like you. You use people up and throw them away when they've nothing left to offer." Anthy placed her watering can on the ground and held a hand out, palm-up. "Now, my glasses, please."

"You have no idea, _no idea_ what the Doctor has done. You can't criticize him like that and he has definitely, definitely not seduced me. I mean, look at that bow tie, he actually thinks it's cool, he's not being ironic," Amelia said, a hand on her hip.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well then. It seems that we've thoroughly insulted each other. Since we're the ones waltzed in without any say-so, I'd like to extend the olive branch and say that I’m sorry." He handed her back her glasses.

Anthy took them back and put them on. The distracting tendrils of time energy vanished, as did his fluctuating form. All that was left was an apologetic-looking man with floppy hair. Nevertheless... "You should leave."

"Doctor, you're not just going to accept what she said, are you?" Amelia demanded and then said to Anthy, "Aren't you going to apologize to him?"

"She doesn't have to apologize, Amy, we're the party crashers." The Doctor frowned. "She does seem a bit in a hurry to get us out of here, though."

"Because if you don’t leave soon, my brother is going to realize that someone new to him is on the campus," Anthy said. "For both our sakes, it would be best if he didn't find you."

"Your brother?" The Doctor’s eyes widened. "You don't mean...the Archetype of the Brother?"

"No," said Anthy calmly. "The Devil."

After a brief moment of silence, the Doctor said, "You know, I've beaten devils before. Not to brag, but I've kind-of made it a habit."

Anthy supressed a sigh. Heroes and their destructive self-confidence.

"You don’t have to continue like this, Anthy. I see what you've built into the glass walls, the roses. I've got a feeling about what all of this is for. I can help you."

Obviously, she was going to have to be blunt. At least, he wasn't a duelist. She didn't have to go along with his misguided attempts to save her. "Listen to me. I don't need to be rescued and I don't want to be rescued. I'm not whatever you think I am and I'm asking you to leave. If you continue to stay here as you are right now, you'll get yourselves in trouble and you will only make things harder for me." Schooling her face into a determined expression, Anthy threw a little power into her words. " _Please don’t make things harder for me._ "

The Doctor studied her hand, studied her eyes, and then whirled around. "Right then! Off you go, Pond, right back into the TARDIS with you!" Amelia sputtered and protested but the Doctor pushed her back into the box and somehow locked it with his metal wand. "Yes, yes, I know, you want to continue to defend my honor but it'll have to wait for another time. Now then, Miss Anthy," the Doctor said, turning back to her. "You see, normally I wouldn't do this. Normally, I would stick around to see what is happening here and how to fix it and to give your brother an ultimatum, all sorts of very heroic things. But you did ask me very politely to go and I’m not unreasonable."

"That’s good to hear," Anthy said dryly. "Unreasonable people are usually very unpopular and undesirable."

"But at the same time, it's clear that something is very wrong at this school." The Doctor stepped up close. "I'm not running away. I want to help and learn more about you. So. Could I come back and have tea with you sometime?"

"Tea." Anthy thought about what she would need to do to make tea happen with a curious time traveler. "Tea would be acceptable. But only if you sent advance notice," she cautioned.

"Right! Advance notice! I'll be the perfect gentleman caller next time, Himemiya Anthy. Dotting my t's, crossing my i's, I'll even leave the sonic at home. Well, I won't leave the sonic at home but I'll think about it in deference to you."

"Very thoughtful, although I might be more impressed if I knew what a sonic was."

The Doctor waved his metal wand. "This is a sonic! Sonic screwdriver is the correct term, actually. Able to scan almost everything, disable doomsday devices, open locked doors, it's really immensely useful."

"You can bring your sonic, as long as you leave locked doors locked." Outside, a crowd of girls passed by chattering loudly, reminding Anthy that she really shouldn't allow them to continue talking much longer. "I really must insist that you leave immediately."

"Leaving, leaving!" The Doctor raced to his police box and yanked open the door. "Yes, Pond, I’m sorry about locking you in but sometimes these things must be done." He leaned back out of the police box and grinned at her. "Himemiya Anthy, it's been a pleasure. Until next time!"

She smiled politely in response and raised a hand in farewell.

The Doctor ducked his head back in and the door closed. After a minute, the police box began to make the _vworp vworp_ sound and phase in and out of being until it disappeared completely. Once it was gone, Anthy picked up her watering can, willing her impending headache to go away. A new dueling round was starting and now this. The last thing she needed to deal with was someone outside the game trying to save her, when that someone could time travel. She didn't even want to think what Akio would do if he got his hands on a time travel machine.


End file.
